Help us deliver journalism that makes a difference in our community.

*Clint Dempsey made his Sounders FC debut when he came on the injured Obafemi Martins in the 34th minute. It marked Dempsey’s first MLS appearance since playing for New England in the 2006 MLS Cup Final (11/12/06), in which the Revs lost Houston on penalty kicks.

*Brad Evans has scored two goals and two assists in the last three games. With five assists, Evans has matched his career-high set in 2011 and is tied for the team-lead.

*Mauro Rosales has now scored (once) or assisted (twice) in each of the last three games. His three goals are tied for fourth on the team and his five-assists are tied for the team-lead. Sounders FC is 22-2-7 all-time when Rosales scores or assists.

*Marcus Hahnemann became the third keeper in club history to win in each of his first two starts (Kasey Keller, Michael Gspurning).

*Seattle’s 34 points (10-7-4) through 21 games matches 2012’s total for the second best in team history.

*Sounders FC has now won five straight games against Toronto FC and increased its all-time record against the Reds to 6-1-1. Seattle’s last loss in the series was on April 25, 2010 at BMO Field.

*Seattle extended its league-best active winning streak when scoring first to 42 games (34-0-8). The streak is the second longest in league history (New York, 58 games).

*Obafemi Martins hit the 1,000-minute mark of his MLS career early on against Toronto. In 1,033 minutes this season, Martins has registered seven goals and three assists. His 0.61 goals per 90 minutes is best in club history (minimum five goals).

*Sounders FC started the same lineup in consecutive games for the first time since the last two regular season games of 2012 (10/21 vs. DAL and 10/28 at LA).

*Eddie Johnson will be suspended for the match at Houston next Saturday due to yellow-card accumulation.

Through 60 minutes: Toronto by far the more dangerous team this half. Just put one off post. Sounders way back on heels.

46' Toronto GOAL 30 second into second half. Ozzie, Hahnemann and Gonzales all almost prevents it, but it was ruled to have crossed line. Sounders' lead down to 2-1.

Second half: ... has begun.

Halftime: Sounders 2, Toronto 0. And an oddity: only one Sounders shot on goal. (Second goal was own goal.)

40' GOAL Seattle. Nice run into the box by Neagle, he slides ball into crowd in front of goal, and look liked own goal. 2-0.

33' Obafemi Martins hurts left leg, and Clint Dempsey comes on for Sounders.

23rd minute: Yellow card for Eddie Johnson -- apparently for simulation, but if so that sure seemed harsh. In any case, he'll serve one-game accumulation suspension next week against Houston, which he might have missed anyway since he's expected to be with U.S. national team in Bosnia at midweek anyway.

Pregame: A much-anticipated game day is here as the Sounders will meet Toronto FC at 4 p.m. at BMO Field. Both teams are 2-0-1 over their last three, and the game is important for Seattle's playoff push. But of course, the big issue is the expected debut of new Sounders DP Clint Dempsey.

The game will be shown on KONG 6/16, heard on the usual radio outlets, blogged here, with Twitter updates @donruiztnt.